ASUS announced the ZenBook Duo series of laptops that come equipped with an all-new ScreenPad Plus secondary display. Placed right above the keyboard, it takes the full width of the laptop and builds upon the functionality of the original ASUS’ ScreenPad.

The company announced the ZenBook Pro Duo (UX581) and the ZenBook Duo (UX481), a smaller variant of the series. Pricing and availability haven’t been announced yet. We’ll be updating the article once they’re officially out.

ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo features

The highlight of the ZenBook Pro Duo laptop is the ScreenPad Plus display. It has a 14-inch width with a 4K UHD resolution of an aspect ratio of 32:9. Rather than being just a secondary display, it also works as an extended display for the primary one. This means websites can be scrolled across both the displays seamlessly.

With the built-in ScreenXpert software, many apps and utilities can take advantage of the secondary ScreenPad Plus display. It includes tools such as App Switcher, ViewMax and App Navigator to aid in cross-screen tasks. Users will be able to manage multiple apps within the ScreenPad Plus while using the main display for their primary task.

ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581.

Drag and drop function is available across both the displays. Essentially, a window can be dragged from the main display to the secondary display just like an extended display.

Although ASUS is working with developers such as Corel to optimise ScreenPad Plus for specific use-cases, any Windows app should be able to run on it without any compatibility issues.

Multitasking on the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581.

The ZenBook Pro Duo comes with a stylus for ScreenPad Plus. Any active stylus is compatible with the secondary display. It also comes bundled with a palm rest only with the ZenBook Pro Duo and not the smaller version. However, with the ErgoLift tilting keyboard, typing will be slightly more ergonomic since the keyboard tilts when the display is opened further.

Because of the limited space on the laptop body, it comes with ASUS’ NumberPad that doubles up as the touchpad. When in the NumberPad mode, the Numpad keys are illuminated and enabled using capacitive touch. The laptop also comes with support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. The ZenBook Pro Duo comes in one colour variant called Celestial Blue.

The ZenBook Duo series has a smaller 14-inch version, the ZenBook Duo (UX481), with a full HD main display and a full HD ScreenPad Plus display. It packs up to an Intel Core i7 CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPU.